What happened in ’86 were two events that were extremely important. The first one was a discovery of a huge armament coming from abroad. Probably, people were thinking, from some Cuban enterprise.
And then it was discovered by the services of Pinochet, and it was presented to the public opinion. And because of that, those who thought that it was possible to do that [bring weapons into the country] very quickly decided to have a plan B.
[Augusto Pinochet was dictator of Chile between 1973 and 1990. In 1986, Pinochet’s agents discovered large weapons caches belonging to armed opposition forces hidden along Chile’s coast. Communist Cuba was suspected of supplying these weapons to Chilean rebels in hopes of toppling the right-wing Pinochet.]
And plan B was an attempt against Pinochet’s life. And that was rather well prepared. Pinochet was coming back to Santiago. He had a country house in the Cordillera de los Andes, in the Andes Mountains, and on the way back he was taken by surprise.
Five of Pinochet’s bodyguards died in that attempt but nothing happened to Pinochet. Pinochet used to travel in three armored Mercedes Benz and in the car that Pinochet was coming to Santiago the missile didn’t explode in the car but jumped and [was] thrown away [meaning the missile missed the car and flew away].
Therefore this was a very difficult…. After that, that night I was taken to prison and I was very lucky because they arrived to my house, went [in] there, I was sleeping with my wife and suddenly I discovered that one of my sons said: “Lagos! (they used to call me Lagos), ¡Lagos, they are looking for you!” And I said: “What are you talking about?”
And when I turned the lights on, four or six guys were pointing [at] me with their guns and machine guns. And they said (it is very funny): “Don’t worry, sir, don’t worry, we are professional people, we belong to the Policía, we are professionals”.
[Ricardo Lagos was committed to the nonviolent freedom movement, while other groups advocated for armed opposition to Pinochet’s regime. Following the attempt on Pinochet’s life in 1986, many activists were rounded up by authorities, including those like Lagos who had no connection to the assassination plot.]
I could not understand what it meant to be professional for that [matter]. And then you do some stupid thing like [asking them]: “who allowed you to come here?” And finally they said: “Look, sir, you better put your clothes [on] because you have to go with us”.
And I offered papers. They said [we don’t need papers]… But they kept saying: “We are professional people”. So finally we left. I put a few things [on] and they said: “it is going to be rather cold, sir, it is September”. September is rather cold in Chile in the nights. “Put [on] an overcoat.” So I put [on] an overcoat. And that was it.
There is no question, they were professional police. There were police cars. And I remember I told them: “the secret police has also the same cars”. But finally they were professional people. And later on I discovered that I was very lucky.
Because the person that at that day was in charge at the headquarters of the Police was somebody who had been a student of mine in the economic school, and he knew when he [saw] the people that had to be taken to prison, and he said: “Get this guy first.”
Because he knew that the Secret Police and some other services were also receiving that [order].
A friend of mine, a journalist, when the Police arrived at his house, they discovered that he was not there. The Secret Police had arrived first. The following day he was dead.
So, to some extent, you never know… And I remained three or four weeks in prison with many other people.
Ricardo Lagos served as president of Chile from 2000 to 2006. While in office Lagos was known for pursuing free-trade agreements, improving health care and education, and addressing the crimes of General Augusto Pinochet’s military regime.
Lagos was born in 1938 in Santiago, Chile. He earned a law degree from the University of Chile in 1960 and then attended Duke University, where he received a doctorate in economics in 1966. He returned to Chile and served as director of the University of Chile’s School of Political and Administrative Sciences and was subsequently appointed secretary general of the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences.
Lagos was nominated by President Salvador Allende to be Chilean ambassador to the Soviet Union. But in 1973, Allende was overthrown in a military coup d’état led by Pinochet, and Lagos was never confirmed in that position.
Like many in the democratic opposition to the dictatorship, Lagos left Chile. While in exile in the United States and Argentina, he served at the United Nations as a consultant and economist at UNESCO and the International Labor Organization.
In 1978, he returned to Chile, where he became president of the Democratic Alliance, a coalition of parties opposed to Pinochet. In 1987, Lagos founded the Party for Democracy (Partido por la Democracia). During the historic 1988 national referendum to end the Pinochet dictatorship, Lagos was a key leader in the grassroots efforts to register voters and encourage them to vote against prolonging the military regime.
After democracy was restored, Lagos served as minister of education in the government of President Patricio Aylwin and as minister of public works under President Eduardo Frei before being elected president in his own right in January 2000.
Since leaving the presidency, Lagos founded the Fundación Democracia y Desarrollo (Foundation for Democracy and Development) in 2006 and currently serves as its president. He is also vice-chair of the Inter-American Dialogue and was UN special envoy for climate change from 2007 to 2010.
Twitter: @RicardoLagos
Spanish conquistadors led by Pedro de Valdivia conquered Chile in 1541. The country’s capital, Santiago, was founded in the same year. Throughout the 277 years of Spanish rule, there was resistance by indigenous groups, such as the Mapuche.
In the early 19th century, an independence movement began in Chile with the establishment of a national front. The front maintained power from 1810 until 1814, when Spain reestablished control of the colony. Many leaders of the pro-independence movement reorganized in Argentina. In 1817, the exiled rebel independence leaders regained control of Chile and formally declared independence on February 12, 1818.
While initially under the leadership of authoritarian General Bernardo O’Higgins, Chile later established a tradition of democratic rule that largely continued until the 1970s. In 1970, prominent Marxist leader Salvador Allende won power in democratic elections. While the economy initially boomed under Allende, domestic opposition and international pressure, especially from the United States, led to increasing difficulties for the government.
On September 11, 1973, a military coup overthrew Allende and installed General Augusto Pinochet as president. Allende committed suicide as troops advanced on the presidential palace.
The sixteen years of Pinochet’s military dictatorship were marked by significant human rights violations and the abolishment of civil liberties. The dictatorship jailed dissidents, prohibited strikes, and dissolved the national congress and political parties. Thousands were tortured and killed; many more were forced into political exile.
In 1980, the Pinochet regime promulgated a new constitution. It included a provision calling a referendum in 1988, allowing voters a yes or no vote on whether to prolong Pinochet’s tenure as president. The referendum campaign saw massive opposition efforts to encourage voter turnout, with nearly the entire democratic opposition united against the military government. While the Pinochet regime belatedly began making reforms, 56 percent of the population voted “no” to continuing the dictatorship, setting the stage for a return to civilian rule.
In 1989, Chilean democracy was fully restored by a democratic election to choose a new president, the first free election in nearly twenty years.
Since the return to democracy, Chile has implemented significant economic and political reforms, including a free trade agreement with the United States. Although there have been major strides in promoting equality and human freedoms, the human rights violations of Pinochet’s dictatorship still haunt many people. The Rettig and Valech Reports investigated and documented the human rights violations and torture under Pinochet’s government, but many Chileans continue to demand greater accountability for those responsible.
Freedom House’s 2014 Freedom in the World report categorized Chile as “free” with an overall freedom rating of one, with one being the freest and seven being the least. The country also received ratings of one in political rights and civil liberties. However, in the 2014
Freedom of the Press report, the nation was categorized as “party free” due to a lack of diversity in the media.